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teamwallis CHH to use Massi bikes

21 October, 2008 - 10:28 — chid

teamwallis CHH are pleased to announce that they will use MASSI bikes in the 2009 race season.
In mid-October Martin and Andy visited the Casa Masferrer headquarters in Barcelona and were given a preview of the 2009 bikes, including one of only two pre-production samples of a potentially game-changing frame, the Pro DHT, which has just completed European Type Approval testing.
This bike has split chain and seat stays, which beforehand even we thought might be a cosmetic gimmick. However, once the frame was unwrapped in front of us and the inspirational Massi Managing Director, Jaume Masferrer, explained the reasoning behind the production, all our doubts were dispelled.
The hole in the stays is nothing to do with saving weight or looking 'trick' (though of course, it does!). It means that each stay is made of two tubes, massively increasing the lateral stiffness.
Massi claims that the design is three times stiffer than a conventional frame. All we know is that Martin was gobsmacked when he was asked to grab the frame by the rear dropouts and try to squash it. While a normal frame flexes quite easily, Martin couldn't budge the rear triangle of the DHT at all. The Massi guys even said we could stand on the back of the frame to show how strong it is!
It probably isn't the frame for everyone. I weigh 56kg and don't put out loads of power, so a SL Pro is probably fine for me. But bigger guys will know that when they sprint they want all the power going to the back wheel, not being wasted in frame flex. For them, the DHT could be revolutionary. At only 1190 grams the frame can still be fairly easily built into a bike as light as the UCI 6.8kg weight limit.
We haven't ridden the DHT yet, but we've been promised a try-out as soon as one of the first complete bikes is ready and we can't wait. If Massi are right that their design has kept a comfortable ride by allowing some vertical deflection while reducing lateral deflection to an absolute minimum then we think that this could be the frame that every racer above 'chid' size ;-) will be wanting this year.
We are very proud that Massi has seen the potential in walliscycles RT and has agreed to supply bikes for the team.Keep watching for more information, including maybe details of the sparkly lid which Martin managed to sneak out of the Casa Masferrer Barca showroom!